The documentary follows cyber stalker Matthew Hardy and his appearance online with a (mostly female) fake persona under the guise of fake social media accounts, spreading false accusations about his victims and making them fear for their relationships and lives their.

Along with the victims, the documentary features interviews from police officers involved in the investigation as well as Hardy’s school friends. It’s a really shocking story and often feels like a horror movie, even if you often realize that this story happened in real life.

“His long-term action had a profound effect on the women he targeted,” said “Can I Tell You A Secret?” producer Nancy Strang. “I hope their testimonies illuminate the reality of online surveillance and change the conversation about what constitutes corruption in the digital age.”

Regarding;

The documentary explores the stories of Hardy’s victims, documenting how they came into contact with cyberstalking (usually through contact from fake social media accounts). A fake account was contacting them, initially trying to gain their trust.

The documentary also examines the impact of these attacks, with many victims reporting feeling like they lost part of their lives while others needed anti-depressants or treatment for anxiety, or some are so scared they can’t go out or live alone. Others reported sleeping with guns under their beds to feel safe.

Who is Matthew Hardy?

He is the most popular cyberstalker in the UK, starting his crimes when he was in high school in 2006, using Facebook in his early years. According to The Guardian newspaper, at the time he attended 25 girls from a school in Cheshire, the area from which he comes.

By the time he was jailed, Cheshire Police reported there were hundreds of victims. They contacted 62 victims more than 100 times over the ten-year period. He was arrested ten times during this period, but the police were unable to stop him from repeating his crimes and targeting new victims.

He then began targeting GLAMOR editor and women’s rights activist Gina Martin (who is responsible for the successful campaign to make upskirting illegal) since 2013. Gina has described waking up every day to people texting her from accounts that Hardy had set up and communicated with her.

How was Matthew Hardy arrested for cyberstalking?

Cheshire Constable PC Kevin Anderson took over the case in December 2019 and was stunned by the number of victims who had turned up. He contacted one of the victims, paralegal Lia Marie Hambly, who had kept more than 700 pages of her communications with Hardy, which greatly strengthened the case.

By 2019, Hardy had been arrested ten times and police had 100 files on him in the system, material from 62 victims. He pleaded guilty to stalking involving fear of violence and harassment. Matthew Hardy was arrested in 2020 and charged in March 2021, but continued to stalk people on bail, including contacting Gina by pretending to be her dead grandmother, who had died the previous year from Covid.

He was jailed for nine years on five charges after more than a decade of terrorizing his victims, who were mostly young women.

However, Hardy was known to police for more than a decade before he was arrested and charged, and the documentary highlights the work that needs to be done to ensure that defendants like him are brought to justice long before they can cause as much harm as Hardy did. to so many people.